Best cycling gadget of all time? FREE!!

[IanA]

Hi everyone,

I’ve just built a new ebike and it’s brilliant but it was missing something very important that I’ve always had on my old bike. Having realised how much I value it I thought I’d share with you my favourite cycling gadget of all time.

All you need is an old brake block cut into a wedge shape with a hole for a piece of string:



Now you have a rear ‘handbrake’:


And then you can park virtually anywhere and even defy gravity on a windy day!


Great party trick!!

 

[banbury frank]

Hi B&Q sell the nylon cord by the Meter

Frank

 

[IanA]

Frank,

Maybe you'll have to find an old shoe lace then

I thought ebike businesses were booming, surely you of all people would have a few pennies to spare.

 

[flecc]

Yes, handbrakes are very useful and I designed one into my Q-bike, a rocker that sets the brake with a finger nudge and releases with a single finger touch. There's a rubber washer within it which holds it wherever it's set. Shown off and on below:

 

[IanA]

Nice one flecc

 

[funkylyn]

Am I being particularly thick or what ? (OK I can hear you all shouting YES)
How does that work then ?
How does it then make your bike park/stand anywhere without falling down ?
Its obviously very clever and must work and is Flecc endorsed but I just dont
understand how......sorry, I'll go and have another coffee and wait to be enlightened .......I think
I must be having a blonde moment......( ever so regular now at my age LOL )

Lynda

 

[IanA]

Am I being particularly thick or what ? (OK I can hear you all shouting YES)
How does that work then ?
How does it then make your bike park/stand anywhere without falling down ?
Its obviously very clever and must work and is Flecc endorsed but I just dont
understand how......sorry, I'll go and have another coffee and wait to be enlightened .......I think
I must be having a blonde moment......( ever so regular now at my age LOL )

Lynda

NO, you're not being thick! - that's what's so good about it - it looks like it shouldn't work - but it does! All it needs is the tiniest of surfaces to rest against :



Try it!

 

[banbury frank]

Sunlova Kit

Hi IanA

Nice Job on the Bike I do recommend the Sunlova Kit as a Starter kit

Sunlova Product Page

some feed back for others would be nice please start a new thread on the build and where you bought it from .It helps other members looking to convert

You did the right thing using a nice bike to start

The remark on the nylon cord was meant to help I use it to attach keys so they are not lost and had a job finding it if you melt it with a lighter instead of cutting it stops the ends fraying NOT in the shop when you buy some

Great Gadget



Frank

 

[flecc]

It's just a way of locking on the back brake Lynda to make the bike stand still as Ian says. With mine I pull the lever hard on and nudge the rocker in to lock the lever in that position. Ian's does the same with a wedge to hold the lever hard on.

There's many reasons to hold a bike still with the rear brake locked on. One of mine is to hold it parked on a steep hill with a heavy pannier load where normally a prop stand wouldn't hold it still. Another is for holding it an steep hills with a loaded trailer to stop it running away. Both those photos are on a 1 in 7 hill.

And then there's trying to lock a bike to a lamp post on a steep hill. With one hand you hold the bike to stop it running away, with another hand you pass the cable lock round the lamp post, and then to grasp the cable lock as it's passed around you use your third ha - - -

 

[timidtom]

Great idea, but exactly how do you carry a full size picnic bench?

 

[flecc]

On my trailer!

 

[IanA]

Great idea, but exactly how do you carry a full size picnic bench?

You mean you didn't notice the kite holding everything up?

 

[HarryB]

NO, you're not being thick! - that's what's so good about it - it looks like it shouldn't work - but it does! All it needs is the tiniest of surfaces to rest against :

View attachment 2393

Try it!

That is a great conversion - the battery position is great and dare I say it, that it looks much better (to my eye) than the wisper daahub. From memory it is a 10Ah battery or is it smaller? 10Ah is pretty weedy these days anyway.

PS just seen your other post - will have a read through. Still it does look great!

 

[ace_bridger]

Great stuff...I love simple ideas which solve little problems and make ours lives so much richer!! Well done and thanks for sharing.

 

[funkylyn]

OK guys....i'm gonna try it......looks and sounds clever, thanks for the tip.
Anyone got any more tips on bikes that do the shopping/cleaning etc.....please let
me know......( with or without the kite....)

Lynda